You knew this was coming with the drafting of Ahmad Brooks.
LB Thurman suspended for four games

By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer

Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman will be suspended for the first four games of the NFL season for violation of the league?s substance abuse policy, a source close to the situation told the Enquirer this afternoon.

The source said it was not necessarily a positive drug test that led to Thurman?s suspension. A missed test also counts the same as a positive test.

Thurman, who turned 23 on July 9, was one of the NFL?s top defensive rookies in 2005. He had a team-high 148 tackles and tied for the team lead with four forced fumbles. He returned one of his five interceptions for a touchdown. He started 15 games at middle linebacker and did not start the 16th for violation of a team rule.

Questions about Thurman?s health or status for the upcoming season surfaced during the mandatory June mini-camp. He was excused for personal reasons, coach Marvin Lewis said at the time.

Questions about Thurman?s situation again surfaced today when the Bengals selected former University of Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks in the NFL?s Supplemental Draft. The Bengals also used their fifth-round pick in the April 29-30 draft on former Florida State linebacker A.J. Nicholson.

Depth is no problem at linebacker for the Bengals. They also have returning second-year pro David Pollack, their first-round pick in 2005. They also drafted a pair of linebackers in the third round in 2004, Caleb Miller and Landon Johnson. Johnson started 11 games at middle linebacker as a rookie in place of injured starter Nate Webster. Johnson led the Bengals with 133 tackles as a rookie and appears to be the likely candidate to start in place of Thurman during the first month.

Pollack figures to be the starter at strong-side linebacker, and veteran Brian Simmons is likely to again start at weak-side linebacker.http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2006/07/lb-thurman-suspended-for-four-games.asp

Milkman

07-13-2006, 06:06 PM

ESPN bottom line has been running it for the last 15 minutes.

83-Steelers-43

07-13-2006, 06:13 PM

:toofunny:

This is beautiful...........one more bum on that team.

Odell has been Odell'ed!!!

Ambridge

07-13-2006, 06:17 PM

Very interesting.

Marvin Lewis has to be pulling out what little hair he has left.

Maybe if Ahmad Brooks slides back into trouble Marvin's head will explode...ala Scanners.

MattsMe

07-13-2006, 06:26 PM

No surprise here. Ignoring character in an effort to become competitive is really starting to catch up with them.

83-Steelers-43

07-13-2006, 06:42 PM

No surprise here. Ignoring character in an effort to become competitive is really starting to catch up with them.

Well said.

BlackNGold203

07-13-2006, 06:52 PM

well...that explains that I guess

SteelerDan43

07-13-2006, 09:10 PM

Well they are sure trying to shot themselves in the foot.

CantStop85

07-13-2006, 11:38 PM

NFL Network is saying that Odell was suspended for missing drug tests, not failing them. :dang:

MattsMe

07-14-2006, 12:29 AM

NFL Network is saying that Odell was suspended for missing drug tests, not failing them. :dang:

:rofl: Oh, well then, that's much better. He probably figured there was no reason to take the tests, because he was clean. :rolleyes:

TheTruestBlackGoldFan

07-14-2006, 11:46 AM

The Bengals finally came out and said it. Odell Thurman will be suspended for the first 4 regular season games...The Bengals are quickly turning into the new Raiders. Nothing like a lil success followed by yet another 8-8 season. Marvin is good at that aint he? With this recent news and the steelers facing the bengals in the third game of the 4 game suspension write willie in for 150+ that game...they already have run stopping problems...the loss of Odell will be felt for all 4 games he is suspended...

Such a shame they had to, in 4 games have the worst rushing defense in the NFL...NOT!

83-Steelers-43

07-14-2006, 11:56 AM

:rofl: Oh, well then, that's much better. He probably figured there was no reason to take the tests, because he was clean. :rolleyes:

:sofunny:

CantStop85

07-14-2006, 01:02 PM

The Bengals finally came out and said it. Odell Thurman will be suspended for the first 4 regular season games...The Bengals are quickly turning into the new Raiders. Nothing like a lil success followed by yet another 8-8 season. Marvin is good at that aint he? With this recent news and the steelers facing the bengals in the third game of the 4 game suspension write willie in for 150+ that game...they already have run stopping problems...the loss of Odell will be felt for all 4 games he is suspended...

Such a shame they had to, in 4 games have the worst rushing defense in the NFL...NOT!
...Odell's an important piece of the defense...but he's not THAT important. With him gone, Brian Simmons will shift over to MLB and Landon Johnson will replace him at OLB. Simmons is a veteran who had 100+ tackles last season and Landon is actually a little more polished/experienced than Odell...Landon actually had 133 tackles as a rookie. The drop-off won't be that huge.

In my opinion, Carson's status is the only thing that's going to affect the outcome of those games.